Adjustable article of clothing



Aug. 7, 1956 D. D. FOX

ADJUSTABLE mucus OF CLOTHING Filed Jan. 11, 1954 ATTOPNE Y 2,757,380 ADJUSTABLE ARTICLE or CLOTHING Dorothea Doctors Fox, New York, N. Y.

Application January 11, 1954, Serial No. 403,173

' 3 Claims. 01. 2-76) This invention relates'to an improvement in clothing, more particularly in adjustable clothing.

It is well known that there has long been a need for adjustable garments to avoid purchasing new ones whenever there is a change in the wearer or the dimensions of the wearer, as in the case of hired housemaids for whom uniforms are provided, or in the case of children.

Heretofore such garments have been subject to one or more of the following difiiculties: They have been needlessly complex in construction; or unattractive in appearance; or difficult to put on especially in the case of children; or incapable of being held on; or capable of adjustment in either length or width but not both; or capable of adjustment at only one point whereas the dimensions of the wearer may change at more than one point; or capable of expansion but not contraction; or adjustable only by means of difiicult sewing; or constructed of selfadjusting material capable of temporary adjustment only, such as elasticized material, which depends upon the force of the wearers body against the clothing and is therefore of necessity tight-fitting and uncomfortable to wear, especially in hot weather.

One object of the invention is to provide such an article of clothing of simple but attractive construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an article of clothing capable of being put on its wearer with ease yet capable of being securely held on its wearer, especially when it is to be worn by small children.

A further object of the invention is to provide an article of clothing of adjustable size capable of expansion at will, in any or all directions at any or all of several points, and thus readily adaptable to rapidly changing needs of growing children.

A further object of the invention is to provide an articlL of clothing capable of contraction as well as expansion in any or all directions, at any or all of several points and thus adjustable to fit different wearers successively, either larger or smaller, as in the case of housemaids.

A further object is to provide an article of clothing capable of adjustment without sewing.

A further object is to provide a simple adjustable article of clothing which is sufficiently loose-fitting to be worn with comfort in either hot or cold weather.

In order to convey more easily an understanding of the invention, I have shown in the drawings some embodiments thereof by way of illustration and not limitation which will now be described,

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the garment.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of tucks taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of tucks taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of an alternative form of the tucks shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The particular embodiment illustrated in the drawings comprises a skirt portion 10, and a shoulder portion 11.

2,757,380 Patented Aug. 7, 1956 "ice The shoulder portion 11 has a bib section 12 and shoulder straps 13. These shoulder straps, which are designed to pass over the shoulder of the wearer, present front ends 14 and rear ends 15. The front ends 14 are sewed to the bib section 12, one shoulder strap being connected to the bib at one upper corner and the other being connected to the bibat the other upper corner. To the rear end 15 of each shoulder strap is attached a series of buttons 16 regularly spaced along the strap. Spaced at regular intervals along the top of the skirt portion 10 are holes 17.

' Along the width of the skirt portion are pleats 18. Along the length of the skirt portion are tucks 19. These tucks, as shown in Fig. 3, consist of cloth folded twice upon itself and fastened in position by stitching 20. At the bottom of the skirt portion is a hem 21. There are also tucks 22 running the full length of both bib portion and skirt portion. As shown in Fig. 2 these tucks consists of cloth folded twice upon itself held in position by stitching 23. These tucks may run the length of either the bib or the skirt portion. The tucks 19 as well as tucks 22 may be replaced by loops 24 as shown in Fig. 4, with fastening means consisting of stitching 25, snaps, or other fastening means holding the looped cloth in position.

After the ends of the skirt portion are wrapped around the wearer one end may overlap the other as necessary so that any of holes 17 on one end will be in line with any of holes 17 in the other end. This permits increasing or decreasing width without sewing. Any of the buttons 16 on the shoulder strap ends 15 may be brought through the holes 17 in both ends of the skirt when one end overlaps the other. When a button 16 is passed through a hole 17 in the overlapping skirt end and then through a hole 17 in the underskirt end, the skirt ends are fastened in position relative to each other and the shoulder strap ends are fastened to the skirt portion 10. The use of different buttons 16 along the shoulder strap ends 15 permits lengthening or shortening the shoulder portion 11 without sewing. This may be accomplished as well by means of snap fasteners or otherfastening means in place of buttons. The shoulder straps 13 maybe crossed in back if desired to enable the garment to be held more securely to the wearer and improve its hang.

Any or all of the tucks 19 may be dropped by removing the stitching 20, enabling the skirt to be lengthened without sewing. Snap fasteners or other fastening means may be used instead of stitching in order to enable the skirt to be either lengthened or shortened without sewing.

Tucks similar to tucks 19, with either stitching or snap fasteners and the like, may be formed in the shoulder portion 11 at either the bib 12 or the straps 13 to lengthen or shorten the shoulder portion.

The stitching 23 of tucks 22 may be removed to widen both bib and skirt without sewing. Snap fasteners or other fastening means may be used instead of stitching to enable the skirt and bib to be either increased or decreased in width without sewing.

It will be noted that the article needs very few pieces and is attractive in appearance and simple to construct, put on, and maintain.

It will further be noted that the garment is capable of either lengthening or shortening in the portion above the waist as well as in the portion below the waist; that the shoulder portion and the skirt portion, as well as waistband portion alone, are capable of either tightening or loosening; that all adjustments can be made without sewing; and that the garment is capable of being maintained in the adjusted state for an indefinite period of time without being held in such state by a force against it exerted by the body of its wearer, and is thus capable of a sufficiently loose fit to be worn with cold Weather. 9 a

I claim:

1. An adjustable article of clothing comprising front and back portions, a shoulder portion permanently attached to one of said front and back portions and removably attached to said other portion, said shoulder portion being removably attached to said other portion by a first fastening means spaced along the length of said'shou-lder portion co-operating with at least one second fastening means on said other portion, said front and back portions having a part foldable longitudinally upon itself to form a tuck between the top and bottom of said front comfort in either hot or and back portions for adjusting said frontand back por- 1 tions in length and a part foldable laterally upon itself to form a tuck for adjusting said front and back portions in width.

2. An article of clothing as set forth in claim 1, said itself to form a tuck for adjusting said shoulder portion in width. 1 Y

3. An article of clothing as set forth in claim 1 in which the expanded form has the circumference of the bottom of the skirt portion at least as large as the circumference of the waist portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

